King claims British title

Yolanda King won the mixed doubles at the British Universities and Colleges Championships

The 19-year-old from Hastings teamed up with Irish number one Paul McCreary to clinch the mixed doubles representing the hosts, Nottingham University, last weekend.

King and McCreary had a tight 9-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-8, 11-6 semi-finals win over Alice Loveridge and Sean Cullen. Then in the final, they achieved another very close victory, 11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 7-11, 11-7 over England internationals Emma Vickers and Chris Doran, also of Nottingham Trent.

The triumph partly made up for King’s disappointment in the women’s singles, in which she was the second seed. She won her singles group and then the first two knockout rounds easily, but succumbed 1-3 to eventual winner Clara Hai Qing (Durham University), a player she had twice beaten at the recent Nottingham Grand Prix, in the quarter-finals.

Playing with Maria Lebedeva in the women’s doubles, King was once again knocked out by the winners. The Nottingham University pair fell in straight games in the semi-finals to Alice Loveridge and Emma Vickers (Nottingham Trent).

The previous weekend, King led her team, YHL, to the Women’s British League Division One title at Doncaster Leisure Park, losing only two singles ties.

King - a member of Weald Table Tennis Club in Cranbrook - is seeded seven for the women’s open singles and two for the under-21 singles at the Senior National Championships in Sheffield this weekend.